Try New Tampa’s Authentic Mediterranean Cuisine At Al-Sham Palace!

Although I always loved gyro sandwiches, which are known more as Greek food anyway, and the occasional falafel when I lived in New York, I never really sampled any authentic Lebanese, Syrian or Jordanian food until I lived in the Tampa Bay area.

Here in New Tampa, a couple of Mediterranean options have hung around, while others have come and gone, but one that might just have some staying power is Al-Sham Palace, located in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

Samer Aljajeh, the owner-chef, and his general manager, Hadil Simreen (one of his wife’s friends), are both from Syria, but Hadil says that most Middle Eastern food is similar, because it all traces its roots to Turkey, which at one time occupied Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

Wherever Al-Sham Palace’s culinary roots are from, I will tell you that I already have several favorite dishes.

First of all, the falafel is green inside, which I’d never seen before, because chick peas aren’t generally green, but Hadil says the green is parsley. The falafels are served with a savory tahini sauce made from crushed sesame seeds, garlic and lemon juice. Yum.

“Almost everything we serve is made here,” Hadil says. “A lot of people follow the Mediterranean diet these days. We have everything you need for that diet here.”

I also loved the shawarma chicken salad, especially with Samer’s lightly spiced vinaigrette dressing. 

As for entrées, my two favorites so far have been the lemon chicken and the mixed grill of beef shish kababs, shish kefta (ground beef with onions and spices) and shish tawook (chicken) pictured above. The hummus served on the side was slightly addictive and the veggies were nicely seasoned and the grilled onions served with the mixed grill are almost sweet.

Al-Sham Palace has all of your other authentic Mediterranean favorites, including fried kebbie (lamb or beef with onions and spices), gyro sandwiches, grape leaves, mtable (eggplant with tahini sauce), baba ghanouj, tabouleh, fattoush salad, as well as onion rings, fried or grilled fish (tilapia), cheeseburgers, Philly steak or chicken sandwiches and more.

There’s even Mediterranean breakfast items available, including Foul mudammas (fava beans, garlic, parsley, tomato, olive oil & spices) Qalaya (meat with tomato sauce) and Fateh (pureed chick peas, with pita, tahini sauce and lemon juice, as well as friend eggs and unique egg omelets with ground beef and spices.

 Delectable Desserts, Too!

For those who love baklava, Al-Sham Palace’s is homemade and delicious, but my favorite dessert so far has been the warbaat with walnuts and milk cream — and I don’t really like walnuts. The milk cream is like halfway between liquid and cream cheese and the triangular pastry shell is crisp, flaky and delicious. It’s like the best cheese croissant in town. Top either of those desserts (or haraseh or kunafa) with a cup of super-dark Turkish coffee (they also have American coffee and tea) and you’ll understand why I so enjoy Al-Sham Palace, even though I’m not Middle Eastern.

“About half of our customers are Americans,” Hadil says. “We are welcoming to everyone and hope everyone will come in and enjoy our authentic Mediterranean food.” 

Al-Sham Palace is located at 19651 BBD Blvd., and is open every day for lunch and dinner. For more information, call (813) 907-8233, search for “Al-Sham Palace” on Facebook or see the ad in one of our latest issues. The ad has a coupon for $5 off any purchase of $30 or more (limit one per table). Go and check out our area’s most authentic Mediterranean cuisine and please tell Hadil and Samer I sent you!  

NTP’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ Ready To Be ‘Part Of Your World’

Before Disney chose Halle Bailey to play the role of Ariel in the live-action version of “The Little Mermaid,” Patty Smithey of Land O’Lakes (above) had already been chosen for the same role in the New Tampa Players’ production, which opens tonight.

When Disney announced recently that Halle Bailey, a teenage African-American actress, was going to play the lead role as Ariel in the live-action remake of  “The Little Mermaid,” Patty Smithey thought that was really cool.

The idea, she figured, made perfect sense. And why wouldn’t she? After all, before Disney chose Halle Bailey, the New Tampa Players chose Patty Smithey.

An African-American actress herself, Smithey has been working hard to perfect the role of Ariel, which she was selected to play in the upcoming New Tampa Players (NTP) production of the 1989 Disney animated blockbuster.

The show opens tonight at 8 p.m. at the University Area Community Development Center (CDC) at 14013 N. 22nd St. in Tampa. There are two showings on Saturday, one on Sunday, and then showings the weekend of August 2-4.

For the past month, Smithey, who lives in Land O’Lakes, has been rehearsing with the rest of the NTP, a local acting troupe, at the CDC.

An acting hopeful in middle and high school, Smithey set aside her thespian dreams when she went off to college at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Smithey earned a degree at FSU in International Affairs, studying abroad in places like Panama, Prague, Poland and Croatia, as she focused on human rights. 

The acting bug, however, never went away. And, at the age of 25, Smithey is returning to her first love.

“It’s my big comeback,” Smithey says, with a chuckle. “I definitely feel honored I was chosen for this role.”

When she auditioned in May, she considered herself a longshot for any role. “The Little Mermaid” wasn’t exactly a movie rich with non-white characters.

On the paperwork for NTP, she put down a number of roles she felt suited to play, like Ursula, or one of Ariel’s sisters, or, she jokes, “maybe a fish in the background.”

She also, on a whim, wrote down Ariel.

Nora Paine, the president of NTP, says the troupe didn’t go into the audition process looking for a white actress to play the role of Ariel. She says that is never part of the process. “We looked for the person who could best embody the character,” Paine says. “For Ariel, we were looking for that innocence, a teenage kind of spunk, for lack of a better word.”

Because the movie revolves around a mermaid’s yearning to explore a new, forbidden world, the role had to be filled by someone who embodied Ariel’s way of looking at that world with total awe. 

“Patty had the facial expression of Ariel, the innocent and the curious face,” Paine says. “She did really, really well.”

Not to mention the voice. Smithey took on the movie’s iconic ballad, “Part of Your World,” for her audition, considered one of the best Disney songs ever, and nailed it. 

The role of Ariel was filled by someone who had the complete package that director Derek Baxter, choreographer Anne Tully, musical director G. Frank Meekins and Paine were looking for all along.

“I knew I could sing,” Smithey says. “But, when I got that call, wow, it was just amazing.”

Smithey’s enthusiasm for her role, and the significance of being a black Ariel, has not been tempered by some of the backlash Disney has received in social media for also picking an African-American for the role.

There have been hurtful memes passed around, and the hashtag #NotMyAriel actually trended on Twitter.

“I saw some of that on social media, and I was shocked,” Smithey said. “I mean, where are these people coming from, that they would be that upset about this mythical creature (being played by a black woman). Some of the stuff I saw was very negative.”

Smithey hasn’t received any backlash, and instead prefers to think of it as inspired and inclusive casting by Paine and the NTP.

The controversy over Disney’s decision has been noticed by Paine as well. While she admits that NTP may have smiled a bit when Disney made the same decision NTP did while casting, she says the debate over inclusivity in theater is a good one. She said diversity was a strong theme in many of the speeches at this year’s Tony Awards as well.

“We’re really glad it can be a national conversation, and a local one as well,” Paine says.

She says the NTP has always strived for inclusivity, no matter the production, no matter the role. The troupe has hosted productions like the Penguin Project, which provided opportunities for those with special needs, and inserted a host of actors into non-traditional parts for other productions.

In 2016, NTP reached out to residents in the University Area, where most of the troupe’s productions are performed — until their new home in New Tampa is completed — and asked them what they wanted to see. Residents in the area, which has a large African-American population, told the NTP they would love for their children to come to productions that had actors that looked like they do.

In 2017, NTP heeded that advice and did a production of the “The Wiz”, which re-imagines “The Wizard of Oz” with a primarily African-American cast.

Choosing Smithey was nothing out of the ordinary for NTP.

“ I think it’s great how they are modernizing the role,” Smithey said. “Maybe other little girls and little boys can see that anyone can be a princess or a prince.”

Smithey will lead 52 other castmates in what will be one of NTP’s biggest productions yet.

NTP is bringing in a choreographer from the Shinobi School in Temple Terrace, which focuses on acrobatic performances relating to parkour (movements used in military obstacle course training), ninja warriors and the circus arts.

“It’s going to add a circus twist to Disney,” Paine says.

Long pieces of silk cloth will hang from above to provide the illusion of being underwater, with performers artfully working their way around the silky streams.

“This is new, as far as I can tell, combining a traditional Broadway musical and circus arts done by a non-professional company,” Paine says.

“The Little Mermaid” opens Friday, July 26, at 8 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit NewTampaPlayers.org.

Fresh Kitchen Coming To Hunter’s Lake!

While it may be a lot to ask for the new Village at Hunter’s Lake project to single-handedly save the sleepy restaurant scene in New Tampa, it sure seems like the developers are trying.

Fresh Kitchen, a south Tampa favorite with locations on S. Howard Ave. and W. Kennedy Blvd., is the latest restaurant to be announced as coming to the new development on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., right across New Tampa’s main thoroughfare from the entrance to Hunter’s Green.

Regency Centers senior leasing agent Marc Elias broke the news to a collection of local business leaders last month at the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC)’s Economic Development Briefing at Hunter’s Green Country Club on June.

Fresh Kitchen is owned by the Ciccio Restaurant Group, which also owns such notable restaurants as Taco Dirty, Green Lemon, betterBYRD and Ciccio Cali, which has a popular location in Tampa Palms.

Like Ciccio Cali, Fresh Kitchen focuses on healthy bowls, where patrons choose their base, protein, vegetable and any extras. Elias’ announcement drew a round of positive chatter during the NTBC briefing.

Elias also said that Regency Centers has a BBQ concept coming, as well as a sub-and-wrap concept, although he didn’t name those restaurants.

Regency Centers senior leasing agent Marc Elias.

Along with the previously announced Via Italia Wood Fired Pizza, Poke Island Plus and Grain & Berry, that would mean six new restaurants (plus Starbucks) could be open by April of 2020 in New Tampa.

The Village at Hunter’s Lake also is likely to provide a boost to the social scene in New Tampa.

“We certainly hope so,” said Elias. “We feel like we are responding to the needs of the area, which is really convenience. Hopefully, we’re able to attract the foot traffic over there, and they can hang out with their dogs at the dog parks, go to Starbucks, take a yoga class. That’s the goal, getting them to hang out at the center.”

While Sprouts, the first green grocer to enter the New Tampa market, is the anchor of the retail strip, other occupants previously reported by the Neighborhood News are Banfield Pet Hospital, The Coder School, Hair Cuttery, Heartland Dental, Nationwide Vision Center, Pink & White Nails, Pure Beauty Salon and T-Mobile.

Elias added that a running store and a “yoga concept” also have signed leases.

Elias says the shell buildings should be completed by November, barring a persistent rainy season. Tenants can open  whenever they are ready, though Elias suspects that most will open sometime around April 2020, when Sprouts is expected to be completed.

The Village at Hunter’s Lake will have a total of 71,397 sq. ft. of commercial space. The project also will include a 30,000-sq.-ft. New Tampa Cultural Center — which is expected to break ground next year and open sometime in 2021 — two dog parks and a four-story, 241-unit multi-family complex to be called The Haven at Hunter’s Lake

Nibbles and Bytes

Full Circle Pizza Gets New Owners!

It’s always difficult to know how a popular local mom & pop restaurant will go once the original owner sells the business. However, in the case of Full Circle Chicago Pizza, located in the Pebble Creek Collection, it seems that new owners Julia and Freddy Nova are off to a great start.

Freddy, who previously worked as a sous chef at the historic Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ, and Julia, continue to serve New Tampa’s most authentic Chicago-style deep-dish and thin-crust pizzas (and they now serve deep-dish pizza every day), but they also have expanded Full Circle’s already impressive menu.

My favorite dishes so far are the chicken & broccoli with garlic & oil shown above (with garlic knots) and the Chicago Italian beef sandwich with melted mozzarella. I’ve also been told that the jumbo wings and the Italian sausage parmigiana sandwiches also are excellent.

Full Circle Chicago Pizza (19651 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Unit B-2) is now open every day for lunch and dinner. For more info, call (813) 994-3700 or visit FullCircleChicagoPizza.com.

Why You Should Be A Samantha Taylor Fitness Sister!

As we’ve chronicled in these pages several times, Samantha Taylor Fitness (STF) now has five Tampa Bay-area locations — including one at 26908 Ridgebrook Dr, Suite 101, off S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel.

Since all five locations are for women only, it can be tough for a man to understand why so many women love and appreciate Samantha and her amazing staff.

I understand it a little more clearly now, because I joined my wife Jannah (who trains at the Wesley Chapel STF studio) for Samantha’s most recent celebration for her six-week challenge participants. Held at the Hilton Garden Inn near the Suncoast Pkwy. (off S.R. 54), Jannah and I were among 220 people in attendance, including many husbands/significant others of the participants, and Samantha said she had a waiting list because she had to close off attendance at that number. 

Challenge participants from all five studios were on hand (having lost about 1,500 pounds between them in only six weeks!).They enjoyed a special Keto die-friendly dinner, but there was electricity in the air as Samantha and her sorority of women who work out together in classes (many also do one-on-one personal training), and her compassionate staffers, received a variety of honors. 

Which women won which prizes (there were some great ones) wasn’t particularly important to me, but if you’re a woman who wants to get in better shape, feel and look better, in the company of others who share your goals, I now know that you can’t beat Samantha Taylor Fitness. What a great night!

For more info, visit SamanthaTaylorFitness.com or call (813) 377-3739.

Here & There, This & That

• I wasn’t particularly surprised to learn that Primebar in the Shops at Wiregrass mall had closed (the always-changing menu was never great and the drinks were the priciest in our area), but I was a little stunned that Union 72 BBQ next to and owned by members of the same group that also owns The Brass Tap, closed the same week. 

• Speaking of the mall, our friend Wendy O’Neill recently moved her Creativity Unpinned store from the former Gymboree location to the former Crazy 8 location. Congrats on the move, Wendy!

• If you’re looking for something fun to do with the kids this summer, I suggest a visit to the Licciardello Stables equestrian center, located at 3007 Sunset Ln. (just east of Livingston Ave.) in nearby Lutz. 

I was on hand for the North Tampa Bay Chamber ribbon cutting event at the stables, judging by the multitude of happy kids in attendance (photo, right), it’s worth checking out this summer! For more info, call (813) 951-1690 or visit LicciardelloStables.com and please tell them that Gary from the New Tampa Neighborhood News sent you!

The Morgan Auto Group is one of the biggest in the state, with 36 total dealerships, and certainly one of the biggest in the Tampa Bay area, with WC Nissan being the 12th under the Morgan umbrella (which also includes MINI of Wesley Chapel).  — GN

BayScape Bistro At Heritage Isles — Best-Kept Secret No More!

The husband-and-wife team of Eddie and Lourdes Bujarski have helped hundreds of young people learn how to safely prepare and cook food from all over the world during their 18 years of running the Culinary Arts Program at New Tampa’s Wharton High. 

That era ended at Wharton in December of 2017, after the Bujarskis took over the newly revamped restaurant at the Heritage Isles Golf Club the month before. When Eddie told me that during my most recent visit to their BayScape Bistro, I wondered why they continued to work at Wharton even though they had already taken the reins at the open-to-the-public eatery inside Heritage Isles.

“Well, when you’re a teacher,” Eddie told me, “you definitely feel obligated to finish out the semester. We couldn’t just leave those kids like that.”

That kind of commitment to their students is the same dedication the Bujarskis have brought not only to BayScape Bistro, but also to the local community — especially the residents of Heritage Isles.

“We found that the residents weren’t really eating at the restaurant unless they were golfers,” Eddie says. “Lourdes and I decided that we would have to change that to be successful here.”

And, change that they have. Although BayScape Bistro has a simple and not overly diverse menu, the menu items are all made with the same commitment to quality the Bujarskis tried to instill in their culinary students, many of whom have gone on to post-secondary cooking schools like the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Johnson & Wales University, and on to professional culinary careers.

In addition, at least 20 of those former students have worked at BayScape Bistro and several of them have told me how much they appreciate the Bujarskis’ no-nonsense approach to the restaurant business. 

“They really know what they’re doing,” says Tristan, a former Wharton culinary student now working on his four-year culinary degree at Johnson & Wales while he hones his craft at BayScape Bistro. Tristan was the amazing young chef creating unique, made-to-order pasta dishes during BayScape’s recent Thursday night all-you-can-eat (for only $10 per person; $5 for kids under age 10!) sauté station, one of the restaurant’s newer “Daily Signatures”..  

I can assure you that the smell of fresh garlic being heated in oil is enough to get you to try the pasta station, which gives you options like tender, grilled chicken, mojo pork, bacon, fresh spinach, tomatoes and much more, with your choice of pastas and a hearty marinara or creamy Alfredo sauce — or try it “Gary’s Way” (registered trademark pending), with just the garlic and oil.

According to BayScape’s online menu, Monday is “Sauté Night,” but Eddie says it has been so popular that the night Jannah and I were there (Thursday is also Trivia Night at BayScape) was the “tryout” for Thursday.

Tuesday is “Take-Out Tuesday,” where Eddie, Lourdes and their staff create different-each-week to-go packages which feed a family of four — for only $20! I unfortunately missed the recent fried chicken Takeout Tuesday, but Eddie promised me there will be more.

Wednesday is Ladies NIght (with $1 glasses of wine for the ladies), but it also is “Wings Wednesday,” where anyone can get six Buffalo or mojo wings for only $5.

On Fiesta Friday, which was mine and Jannah’s first experience with Eddie’s loyal crowd of super-fun regulars who come for dinner and stay for karaoke, you can enjoy tacos, fajitas and other Mexican favorites. It was our Fiesta Friday visit that convinced us to have both my birthday party in January and my “Gary’s 25 Years of Neighborhood News” celebration in April at BayScape, and I heard no complaints about the catering-style food at either of those events.

Saturday is “Live Music Night,” with a rotating lineup of artists and groups performing. Eddie says it’s also the night where he usually serves a steak or, occasionally, a fresh fish feature entrée, although he admits he hasn’t yet found a supplier with the kind of fresh fish he wants at the right price.

Sunday is “Family Night,” where one kid eats for free for each adult entrée purchased. The kids also are kept entertained with indoor games.

Jannah and I also have other favorites at BayScape, from the BayScape chef salad (with mojo pork, chicken and bacon and what Jannah says is the best ranch dressing around); the French dip sandwich with real au jus for dipping; the same tender roast beef also is available as a dinner plate with brown gravy; the grilled chicken club sandwich and the BayScape Cuban.  There’s even a grilled veggie and cheese sandwich on the menu.

Breakfast, Too?

The picture above is the best breakfast I’ve had in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel. The thick-cut brioche French toast with two eggs perfectly over easy and the tastiest thick-cut bacon around with truly amazing cottage-fried potatoes and super- fresh (and delicious) fruit costs only $9.99. If you don’t need the French toast, the cost is only $7.99 with regular toast! 

And, best of all, breakfast is served all day, so you can even have it for dinner if you have such a craving. Other breakfast dishes to try are the meat-lover’s hash, country fried chicken & eggs with pepper gravy, the “breakfast in hand” sandwich, pancake breakfast, create-your-own omelets and even a yogurt parfait with fresh fruit and house-made granola.

Still More To Come!

Eddie and Lourdes promise that more items will be added to BayScape Bistro’s unique menu, based on customer demand and boy, considering the place hasn’t yet been open for two years, there are a lot of regular customers enjoying the restaurant and bar, which has some of the most reasonable premium alcohol mixed drink prices around.

Friday karaoke nights are always packed and most of the main portion of the restaurant was full for Trivia Thursday. And, with Takeout Tuesdays averaging at least 50 family-of-four meals every week, it’s obvious that Eddie and Lourdes are building something special in New Tampa, even though Heritage Isles is almost at the Morris Bridge Rd. eastern end of Cross Creek Blvd.

And, keep reading the Neighborhood News for more info about a family-oriented Back-to-School Business Expo, in conjunction with the North Tampa Bay Chamber, coming sometime in August! There will be food, games for the kids and booths available for kid-oriented business sponsors.

BayScape Bistro at Heritage Isles (10630 Plantation Bay Dr.) opens at 9 a.m. for breakfast (8 a.m. on Sat. & Sun.) and stays open for lunch & dinner until 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat.).

For info, call (813) 994-3445, visit BayScapeFlorida.com or see the ad on pg. 39 of this issue.